Download Toning Your Blood Vessels

How to Tone Your Blood Vessels
Research Identifies New Way to Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease
By Jack Challem, The Nutrition Reporter™
Personal trainers have long praised the health benefits of toning your
muscles. Now, medical researchers are looking at a similar approach for
toning of your blood vessels.
Think of it as getting really buff blood vessels.
So, what’s blood-vessel tone got to do with your health? The better the
tone of your blood vessels—your total circulatory system—the less your
heart has to work to pump blood. When your heart pumps your blood
smoothly, without resistance from your blood vessels, your risk of heart
disease drops.
Although exercise is important for muscle tone, your eating and
supplement habits may have greater sway when it comes to blood vessel
tone. Eating fresh wholesome foods and taking antioxidants are the best
ways to maintain tiptop blood-vessel tone.
HOW DO YOU SAY ENDOTHELIUM?
The concept of improving your blood-vessel tone centers on the
endothelium, a thin layer of cells that line the inside of your body’s blood
vessels. Researchers know that endothelial cells are major players in
regulating blood flow, blood pressure, and even clotting. These cells
secrete a variety of chemicals that signal blood vessels to dilate and
constrict, which helps regulate blood flow, as well as to activate cells
involved in blood coagulation.
Healthy blood vessels are elastic and flexible, accommodating changes in
physical activity and stress levels. But in endothelial dysfunction
(pronounced en-doe-thee-lee-uhl dis-funk-shin), blood vessels stiffen
and reduce blood flow (circulation) by 15 percent or more. Your heart has
to work harder to make up the difference.
Although doctors understand that endothelial dysfunction is a major risk
factor for coronary heart disease, it’s not easily measured outside of
university research environments. Instead, you have to infer the health of
your endothelium based on your eating habits.
FAST FOODS MAKE FOR FLABBY TONE
One of the first significant studies linking diet and endothelial
dysfunction was conducted almost 10 years ago at the University of
Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. Gary D. Plotnick, M.D., and his
colleagues compared the effects of a “high-fat” fast-food breakfast and
antioxidant supplements on 20 healthy men and women. They used
ultrasound to measure changes in blood-vessel tone and blood flow in
the brachial artery, the same artery used to measure blood pressure in
the upper arm.
Plotnick found that a typical McDonald’s breakfast led to a significant and
rapid decline in normal blood-vessel tone and blood flow. The changes
lasted for two to four hours (until about when the average person might
be hungry enough for another fast-food meal). But the good news was
this: taking 800 IU of vitamin E and 1,000 mg of vitamin C prevented the
dangerous changes in endothelial function.
The study clearly demonstrated the benefits of vitamins E and C, and
Plotnick concluded that antioxidants help maintain normal endothelial
function. But Plotnick erred in describing the fast-food breakfast as one
high in saturated fat. While such a breakfast provides a hefty amount of
saturated fat, it is also high in trans fats, refined carbohydrates, and
sugars—all of which can have a disastrous effect on blood-vessel tone.
HEALTHY DIETS HELP
Endothelial dysfunction—again, think of it as poor blood-vessel tone—is
intertwined in inflammation and male sexual impotency. A variety of
lifestyle factors increase the risk of endothelial dysfunction, including
smoking tobacco, being overweight, and having either diabetes or
prediabetes. Elevated blood levels of cholesterol, oxidized-LDL
cholesterol, triglyceride, or homocysteine (yet another risk factor for
heart disease), also increase the chances of having endothelial
dysfunction. And so does feeling stressed.
In a study conducted at the State University of New York, Buffalo,
researchers found that a similar McDonald’s breakfast increased both
inflammation and endothelial dysfunction in otherwise healthy subjects.
Blood levels of a variety of inflammatory markers, such as C-reactive
protein and “nuclear factor kappa beta (NFkB),” rose after the meal. NFkB
promotes both inflammation and endothelial dysfunction in the body,
according to Emmanouil N. Karatzis, M.D., of the Red Cross Hospital in
Athens, Greece.
And yet dietary changes and supplements can help you maintain normal
blood vessel tone. In a follow-up study, Plotnick and his colleagues
reported that many of the components of the Mediterranean diet,
including fish and antioxidant-rich vegetables, improved endothelial
function.
A separate study, conducted at Harvard University, found that a variation
of the Mediterranean diet (e.g., avoiding dairy and starchy potatoes) and
a modified food-pyramid diet (allowing for multivitamins and moderate
wine intake) led to substantial reductions in both inflammation and
endothelial dysfunction.
SUPPLEMENTS FOR TONING YOUR BLOOD VESSELS
Several supplements have been found beneficial in maintaining or
restoring normal blood-vessel tone.
Vitamin E. Numerous studies have confirmed the benefits of vitamin E in
improving endothelial function. This ability to maintain normal blood
vessel tone may partly account for vitamin E’s benefits in preventing
cardiovascular diseases. In an extreme case, focusing on “acute”
endothelial dysfunction in smokers, researchers found that 600 IU of
vitamin E daily led to significant improvements in blood-vessel tone. A
combination of 400 IU of vitamin E and 500 mg vitamin C daily enhanced
endothelial function in children genetically predisposed to heart disease.
Vitamin C. By itself, vitamin Ccan also improve blood vessel tone. In a
study of patients with heart disease, researchers found that 2,000 mg of
vitamin C protected against endothelial dysfunction after a high-fat meal.
Similarly, 1,000 mg of vitamin C blunted the endothelial dysfunction
caused by elevated blood levels of homocysteine.
L-Arginine. This amino acid is the precursor to nitric oxide, one of the
key regulators of endothelial function. Nitric oxide increases endothelial
flexibility, and studies have found L-arginine supplements (6 to 15 grams
daily) helpful in angina pain and congestive heart failure. Lower doses,
such as 2 grams (2,000 mg) daily can help treat erectile dysfunction. Larginine works the same way as prescription drugs for erectile
dysfunction—that is, by increasing nitric oxide levels and improve bloodvessel tone. Vitamin C may further improve the activity of L-arginine.
Garlic. Long revered for its health benefits, garlic is rich in antioxidants
and increases nitric oxide production. In a study of 15 men with coronary
heart disease, researchers found that 2.4 grams of aged garlic extracts
reduced endothelial dysfunction by 44 percent.
Alpha-Lipoic Acid. This antioxidant has long been used in Europe to
treat symptoms of diabetic nerve disease. In a recent study at the Emory
University School of Medicine, Atlanta, researchers reported that 300 mg
of alpha-lipoic acid improved enthothelial function by almost 50 percent,
and the antioxidant also enhanced the benefits of a drug used to treat
heart disease.
Flavonoids. Flavonoids are a family of more than 5,000 potent
antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables. In a recent study, Mary
Engler, Ph.D., R.N., found that blood-vessel tone improved after subjects
consumed 1.6 ounces of flavonoid-rich dark chocolate daily for two
weeks. The improvements appeared related specific to increases in
epicatechin, one of the antioxidant flavonoids in dark chocolate.
In sum, the health of your total circulatory system has a major effect on
your overall risk of developing heart disease. Research on endothelial
function has clearly shown that eating deep-fried foods can have a
disastrous effect on your blood vessel tone. In contrast, healthier foods
and certain supplements can help you stay buff inside. And who wouldn’t
want to be buff?
This article originally appeared in Let’s Live magazine. Copyright 2011 by Jack Challem.
You may print this article for personal use. However, for commercial reproduction, you
must obtain written permission from Jack Challem.
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